As a church it is a good thing when the leadership work together in harmony and love. Conversely, it is tragic when the opposite is true. Timothy appeared to be having some problems with the elders of the church at Ephesus. He was a young man and still had much to learn. Ephesus was not an easy place to minister. Only God knows the hearts of everyone. No pastor or church member is perfect, but that should not hinder us from striving for perfection. The ministry of a local church rises and falls with its leadership. Godly leadership means God’s blessing, and that is what we want and need.

Paul is speaking directly to Timothy in this passage, that is of benefit to us all. We need to be prepared in our own lives for Jesus' return. We need to be on guard to false teaching, identified by people's actions in the way that they live and the way that they act. Our responsibility is to be nourished in God's Word so that we can continue to grow in our Christian walk, live out our faith and use our spiritual gifts to build up the church so that we can minister to this world.

Paul indicates in this passage that all petitions, prayers, intercession and thankgiving to God is for all people, which is pleasing to Him because He wants everyone to be saved. All authority for the church is from Jesus Christ, who is the head of the church. We need to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ so that everyone has the opportunity to be saved.

The people in Ephesus were being led away from the true teachings of Jesus by those who were formulating different doctrines and teaching and promoting meangingless discussions. Paul writes to Timothy and urges him to redirect the thinking of the people of Ephesus back to the truth of the Gospel, the Good News that had been entrusted to him. In the same way, we have also been entrusted with the Good News of Jesus and we need to pass this on to others. From verse 5, the goal of the Good News of Jesus is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

We can be living comfortably and feel we have control of our life. We can assume that we don't need God in all parts of our life. Our life should reflect that of Jesus. Are we going to align ourselves each day with what we want or with what God wants? Nehemiah had a good job and lived comfortably, but then he received news about Jerusalem being in ruins. Nehemiah had a choice to remain in his comfortable lifestyle or to act on the information he had received. God speaks to us and challenges us. We neeed to decide if we are going to obey God or stay as we are. The transformation in our life requires God's Spirit. We can't do it by ourselves.